Jefferson’s Virginia in Turmoil as Board Replaces Leader

June 19 (Bloomberg) -- The University of Virginia’s board
named an interim president after a week of turmoil caused by the
ouster of President Teresa Sullivan, an event unprecedented in
the history of the institution founded by Thomas Jefferson.

Carl Zeithaml, dean of the McIntire School of Commerce,
will take over Aug. 16, the university in Charlottesville,
Virginia, said today in an e-mailed statement. Sullivan, who led
the college for less than two years before her forced
resignation, said she will step down Aug. 15. Her tenure has
been the shortest in the university’s 193-year history.

Sullivan yesterday defended her record while the faculty’s
senate executive council asked Rector Helen Dragas, head of the
Board of Visitors, to resign. As the board convened to name an
interim president yesterday, Dragas expressed “regret” for the
“pain, anger and confusion” involved in Sullivan’s departure.

“I want to thank the UVA family for enduring the tumult of
this difficult week,” Dragas said in a statement. “It has been
exceptionally trying for all of us, and we accept our great
share of responsibility for that. As we look forward to the
transition to new leadership at the university, our community
can rest assured that it will have a great deal of input.”

Since June 10, when the university announced Sullivan’s
resignation, at least three other top officials have been asked
to resign or have said that they might.

Students Puzzled

About 2,000 students and faculty gathered in support of
Sullivan outside an afternoon board meeting in the university’s
Rotunda building yesterday, said John Casey, an English
professor who wants Sullivan restored to her position. The crowd
chanted “Reinstate Sullivan,” as she made her way into the
meeting, and cheered her after she made her way out, Casey said.

Virginia students are puzzled as to why Sullivan is
leaving, and many are angry, Hilary Hurd, the student
representative to the board, said in a statement.

“The most common element of their concern is simply a
desire for a better explanation,” she said in a statement to
the board that was republished on the website of the Cavalier
Daily student newspaper. “What is the reason for the actions
taken by the board?”

Zeithaml was named interim leader early this morning after
the board met for almost 12 hours. He is in his fourth term as
dean of the McIntire School, which Bloomberg Businessweek ranked
in March as the No. 2 undergraduate business program in the
country. Zeithaml, who received a bachelor’s degree from the
University of Notre Dame and a masters in business
administration from the University of Florida, joined Virginia
in 1997.

Rector Dragas

Yesterday, the UVA faculty senate’s executive council
called for the resignations of Dragas and Vice Rector Mark
Kington. At an emergency meeting of about 500 faculty members
June 17, university Provost John Simon questioned “the honor,
integrity and trust” of the institution and suggested he might
resign over Sullivan’s ouster.

Dragas, president and chief executive officer of Dragas
Cos., a Virginia Beach-based homebuilder, was appointed to the
board in 2008 by then-Governor Tim Kaine, a Democrat, and was
named rector in 2011. She received a bachelor’s degree from the
university in 1984, and a master’s degree in business in 1988.

In a March interview in Virginia Business magazine, she
praised Sullivan as “very talented” and part of a new
leadership team.

Fundraising Jeopardy

Sullivan told the board that she raised cash flow from
philanthropy 16 percent since coming to the job and that
commitments from donors were increasing. The university received
$242.6 million in donations last year, according to its website.

Fundraising may be jeopardized by the removal of Sullivan,
as donors have pledged to withhold gifts to protest her
treatment, according to an article in the Washington Post.
Hunter Smith, whose family has donated more than $60 million to
the university, won’t give more until changes are made to the
board, according to the newspaper.

Another donor, Paul Tudor Jones II, expressed support for
the board’s move. Jones, who is chairman, chief executive
officer and manager of Tudor Investment Corp., said in an
opinion piece in the Daily Progress newspaper of Charlottesville
that Sullivan’s departure is a “clarion call from the Board of
Visitors that business as usual is not acceptable anymore.”

Jones, a 1976 graduate of the university, donated $35
million in 2003 for a basketball arena, named for his father,
John Paul Jones.

Those concerns won’t affect the board’s decision, Dragas
said in her statement yesterday.

“There is not one single person on Earth whose interests
we would ever put above those of the thousands of stakeholders
entrusted to our care,” she said in the statement. “Not one
president, not one administrator, not one faculty member, and
certainly not one donor.”